Media Release

At about 10 a.m. Friday, police received a report of a two-car collision at the intercession of Komohana Street and Kukuau Street in Hilo.

Officers arriving at the scene found the 34-year-old officer kneeling on the shoulder of Komohana Street next to his late-model Toyota 4-Runner patrol vehicle, which had come to rest in a drainage canal on the north side of the Kukuau Street intersection.

Officers also found a slightly injured 20-year-old Hilo man who had been driving a late-model Ford pickup truck.

Hilo patrol officers interviewed witnesses who had stopped to render assistance. The officers learned that the police officer had been traveling north on Komohana Street. He was responding to an emergency call with his blue strobe light and siren activated.

The driver of the pickup truck was traveling west on Kukuau Street, which had a posted stop sign. He failed to yield the right of way to the emergency response vehicle. The truck hit the police vehicle, which overturned once and landed upright.

Hawaii Fire Department rescue personnel took the six-year veteran police officer to Hilo Medical Center for his injuries. He is listed in satisfactory condition. The driver of the pickup truck declined treatment at the scene for his minor injuries.

Police want to remind the public that Section 291C-65 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes requires vehicles to yield the right of way to authorized emergency vehicles with both audio and visual signals activated.